Subjectivity and Being Somebody

Human Identity and Neuroethics

This book uses a neo-Aristotelian framework to examine human subjectivity as an embodied being. It examines the varieties of reductionism that affect philosophical writing about human origins and identity.

description Reviews Formats

This book uses a neo-Aristotelian framework to examine human subjectivity as an embodied being. It examines the varieties of reductionism that affect philosophical writing about human origins and identity, and explores the nature of rational subjectivity as emergent from our neurobiological constitution. This allows a consideration of the effect of neurological interventions such as psychosurgery, neuroimplantation, and the promise of cyborgs on the image of the human. It then examines multiple personality disorder and its implications for narrative theories of the self, and explores the idea of human spirituality as an essential aspect of embodied human subjectivity.

Source: Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

Credit: George Graham

"It's hard to top the learned and systemic quality of Gillett's treatment of the complex manner in which human lives may be self-conceived."

Source: Analysis

Credit: Eric Matthews

"Gillett is not afraid to be more personal, and to display more passion, than most recent academic philosophers would allow themselves. He makes good use of literary references and quotations to clarify and reinforce his arguments, and shows a refreshing disregard for the conventional distinction between 'analytic' and 'Continental' philosophy ... this is a book which is rich and suggestive, provoking thought on topics ranging from metaphysics and philosophy of mind to ethics, cultural criticism and philosophy of religion."

Source: Ethical Perspectives

Credit: Kristien Hens

"The book contains an overwhelming amount of interesting ideas, making it well worth the effort needed to finish it."